


Warmth and Home

by rubylily



Category: Kamisama no Inai Nichiyoubi | Sunday Without God
Genre: Domestic, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-04
Updated: 2018-04-04
Packaged: 2019-04-18 03:58:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14204550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rubylily/pseuds/rubylily
Summary: Scar wondered when she began to notice Julie's smile.





	Warmth and Home

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pessi_mista](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pessi_mista/gifts).



Scar wondered when she began to notice Julie's smile.

During these unchanging days in Ostia, they fell into a kind of routine. As Ai investigated the source of the seal, she attended school with Alice and Dee, and Julie and Scar either remained in Alice's house or explored the city. They took care of Celica together while Julie cooked and cleaned, and when they went outside, nobody batted an eyelash at the baby Scar carried in her arms. With each passing day, she began to understand why someone would wish to preserve this moment, and as she walked beside Julie, she caught his soft smiles out of the corner of her eye, but sometimes she also saw hints of unease.

But when Julie stood near her, when he held her close, a feeling she didn't understand filled her, but neither could she ignore the sorrow behind his smile.

She had changed, she knew. She had wished to change. She didn't have to be alone any longer. She could be gravekeeper and human, like Ai was. Her existence was no longer about ending life - she wanted to protect Celica and Julie too.

One day, some time after Ai's birthday, Scar watched Julie as he prepared supper. He usually did shortly before Ai and Alice came home, and sometimes Dee joined them, although she had grown distant these past few weeks. Celica stirred in Scar's arms, and Scar held her closer to her breast; Celica was the same as always, cheerful and innocent, and when Julie also held Celica in his arms, he seemed more at ease too, and Scar found herself wanting to protect that peace. She bit her lip; were they simply playing house together?

"Julie," Scar said carefully as he finished cutting the carrots. "Are you happy here?"

Julie froze, but he didn't take his eyes from the knife in his hand. "It's peaceful here, if that's what you mean."

"Then would you want to remain here?"

"In the city, or the seal?" Julie slid the sliced carrots into the stew and then turned to face Scar. "You've realized it too, right? Why someone would wish for something like this."

Scar looked down at Celica in her arms, who simply smiled in that simple, babyish way of hers. "I suppose it is easy enough to forget we may be trapped here for the time being."

"That Ai, dragging us into this mess because she wants to save the world." Yet Julie chuckled warmly as he raked his fingers through his hair. "But I can't regret following her on her journey."

"Neither can I," Scar said without thinking.

A faint smile crossed Julie's lips. "Because she brought you to Celica?"

As if hearing her name, Celica babbled and roused, and Scar stroked her soft cheek. "You say this is Ai's journey?"

"Well, it's not like it was my idea, but I didn't have anything else to do." Julie turned away and put the pot of stew on the stove, and Scar noticed that his hands were trembling. "I'm not a young man anymore, and… I didn't really have any desires for the future. So if I found myself suddenly taking care of a girl who wanted to start a journey to save the world, what else could I do?"

"I have been traveling alone for as long as I can remember," Scar said as she cradled Celica, whose eyes had grown wide. "So a place like this is rather pleasant, but…"

"And that's what scares me." Julie let out a heavy sigh. "I know this place is fake. Repeating the same year over and over isn't living." He smiled weakly as he turned to face Scar. "But I know what you mean too. When my wife and daughter were still alive, I liked cooking and cleaning for them like this. It wasn't much, but just having this kind of domestic life with them was enough for me. So I'm scared if I let my guard down, I'll forget why I'm here and I won't be able to help Ai."

Scar's chest tightened; it wasn't often Julie spoke of his deceased wife and daughter, and when he did, his eyes held a distant longing. "But what can we do to help Ai?" she asked finally.

Julie's face fell as he chewed his lip. "I don't know," he muttered.

Silence fell over them, and Scar's arms tightened around Celica. If she was still a simple, emotionless gravekeeper, she would probably grow insane while trapped in these endless, unchanging days, having no deceased to bury and thus no meaning to her existence. But she was different now. She didn't want to wander aimlessly, driven only by a vague sense of duty she hadn't chosen. She wanted to watch Celica and Ai grow and mature. She wanted to understand the joy Julie find in simple domesticity. She wanted something more with him too, a deeper, more intense desire.

Desire. That was something she had not felt as an unchanging gravekeeper, but as Ai had once told her, this twilight age was also an age of miracles.

Celica began fussing, startling Scar, and she reached out her tiny arms for Julie, who simply laughed. "It'll be a while before the stew is done, so if you want, I can hold Celica," he said.

"Yes, I believe she would like that too," Scar said as she handed Celica to Julie. Her arms felt too empty without Celica, but she didn't mind if Julie or Ai wanted to hold Celica. When Julie held Celica, his expression softened, and there was a sincerity about his smile that Scar couldn't take her eyes from.

As Julie cradled Celica in his arms, something warm filled Scar's chest. Despite his height and strength, he held Celica with glass-like tenderness, and his hands were gentle and protective, and Scar could not help but remember how he had held her in Story Circle, when he had brought Celica back to her. He held Celica as if she was his entire world, and Scar wanted to share that world with him too.

A smile tugged at Scar's lips; if not for Ai, she would never have known such beauty existed in this ending world.

"Scar," Julie said, and his voice trembled slightly. "When the seal is broken, what do you want to do?"

"Perhaps we could stay here," Scar mused, stepping closer to Julie as she touched his face, and his hair was surprisingly soft against her fingers. "You say this is fake, but I believe we can make it real." She let out a quiet chuckle. "You truly do look happier these days."

Julie's cheeks became a deep shade of crimson. "W-Well, it's not like I don't understand why someone wished for this, and sometimes this kind of quiet life is nice too, so…" he stammered.

Scar touched Julie's shoulders to pull herself closer to him, being mindful of Celica in his arms. "But I will be happy too if Ai wants to continue her journey. I don't mind traveling if I'm with all of you."

"We don't need to decide now," Julie said gently, his voice barely a whisper. "We still have time."

"All we can do now is believe in Ai," Scar said as she lifted her head, and as her gaze met Julie's, she suddenly felt as if he could see into her soul.

He smiled, a faint, sincere smile, and he bent over to kiss Scar, and between them Celica giggled.


End file.
